Hunting – here’s how it should be done

A great deal has been posted these last few days regarding Walter Palmer and the killing of Cecil the Lion, and rightly so. Facebook is now full of pictures of Great Hunters that have shot everything from Lions to Monkeys. Lets hope this has some effect on the Governments and ruling bodies around the world and a ban on Big Game Hunting can be put in place. There is nothing brave or skilful in hunting these animals, not armed with modern equipment – high powered rifles and bows. What is the point!?

I travelled to Africa a couple of years ago and managed to shoot a variety of wild life armed only with a EOS5dII and 70-200 zoom lens. It is a fantastic experience to be so close to these animals and observe them in their natural surroundings. Surely this is the better way of collecting souvenirs. Photographs to hang on your wall, put in albums or post on the internet.

Here we go then, I’ll share some of mine just to show how easy it is to get close to these animals.

The Giraffes are truly beautiful. Amazing creatures. How any one can do harm to these gentle giants is beyond me!

It can be quite intimidating to get so close to a large animal such as a Bull Elephant. This one was a gentle giant minding his own business and just keeping a careful eye on us.

This one was a different story. Late evening he came out of the brush sounding off, waving his ears and stamping the ground. All signs of aggression according to our guide. I was glad we were part of a group and had guides to advise us. We still didn’t shoot him though (the Elephant not the guide – though we didn’t shoot the guide either) We simply kept quiet, ignored him and sneaked a picture (of the Elephant not the guide… oh never mind 🙂 )

We even came across a Hyena with it’s cubs. Here’s one peeping out from the safety of it’s mum. Dad wasn’t far away and he was non too happy. What a noise he set up!

So, did we see any Lions?

We sure did. The were the holy grail of the Safari and we had spent several days without a sighting. We got close a few times and it get’s quite exiting when the guides are busily talking into their walkie talkies communicating with other guides as they try and locate a pride on the move. Those jeeps cant half move and it’s pretty rough terrain – a fantastic experience. Eventually though we did find a pride of Lions. All content (probably after a recent feed) and relaxing in the sun atop a rocky outcrop. Absolutely amazing. This pride were so relaxed they even started mating! An unbelievable experience.

And there we have it. How much nicer would the world be if those millionaire hunters filled their house with beautiful photographs instead of stuffed bodies!